Digimon: Elemental Mages

by BridgitKiido

Disclaimer: I don't own digimon. I own the mages. So there, nya. (Oh no, cat pun... in a chapter about a rabbit, a dog and an earwig...)

Winds of History

"I wonder how Bridgit and the twins are doing."

Bobby was attempting – and failing miserably – to try to keep up with Tan and Rhenna as they walked further along the path. Raptomon and Dewmon were also lagging behind, mostly from fatigue after eating all of that delicious food and not working it off. Butterstarmon sat on Bobby's head, snoozing with his wings out. This had two benefits – it gave Bobby some shade in the bright sunlight, and it let Butterstarmon refrain from walking or flying. Besides, it gave both of them a slight tan.

Tan and Rhenna both ignored Bobby's question, so he kept talking. "I mean, I just want to know what they're doing. They could have run into danger, because as a group we seem to almost once every hour. I would go back to try and find them, but I don't remember the way because I've just been following you. I knew I should have scattered breadcrumbs or something – I could have easily done that with the packs of cocoa I have in the basket." Still not getting a response, he said a bit louder, "And don't you think that the both of you're being just a bit conceited?"

That last comment made Tan stop walking and say in an agitated tone, "Bridgit left because she wanted to. The twins left because they wanted to. If you want to, you can leave. I'm not stopping you, and neither is Rhen. I'm just disappointed that you'd rather stick with that nobody than us somebodies."

Bobby ran forward to stand in front of the other two, and yelled, "You really are conceited, aren't you? You think that you're so smart just because your ruby can tell the future. However, it only says where we will end up and not the journey that lies ahead. Bridgit's diamond, however, lets her see that. And I'd rather stick with her and take the 'wrong' path than stick with you any day!"

"So why are you walking with us then?" Rhenna asked, also agitated.

"I ALREADY TOLD YOU! I'm keeping an eye on you to make sure that neither of you does something stupid. And anyway, if I left, your partners would have to go without food for hours, perhaps days."

Butterstarmon didn't open either eye as he listened to the three of them arguing, but he muttered, "This could really disrupt someone's beauty sleep."

.--.

The delicious aroma of hot cocoa filled the air in the cavern – an aroma that would not have been possible without Jennie's water powers and Bridgit's laser. Now, Bridgit was using a small bowl full of water to scry, to find out what damage the battle against Ihtaymon had done to John, who still lay unconscious on the cavern floor. Spikecornmon was asleep, and Bunimon was busy bandaging John's broken arm.

She finished and said happily, "Well, other than the one broken arm, which can easily be fixed thanks to Bunimon, I'm happy to report that no lasting damage has been dealt to John. Luckily, you interrupted Ihtaymon's mind wave attack just before it fully took effect. Just one moment later and I don't know what could have happened. According to what I saw when I was scrying earlier in the cocoa, that attack is meant to turn the user into that earwig's slave, which would let him control their every thought, whether it would be revealing the location of some great treasure or something… with much more pain involved for him or somebody else. There's no telling what he'd make them do."

Jennie flinched. "John…" She looked over towards the corner where her twin lay, still unconscious, as Bunimon began to wrap his broken arm in her pink ribbon. She closed her eyes for a second and sighed. "I hope he'll be okay."

Bridgit leaned backwards against a large boulder. "You and John seem really close. I mean, if my little sister and I were in this situation, sure I'd be worried and all, but I'm not sure if I'd be that worried. I mean, Kima is a little bit annoying and gets on my nerves almost every day…"

"Well, I guess we are pretty close," Jennie muttered. "Although, this ordeal that we've had to go through has just brought us closer…"

"Really? What kind of ordeal?"

Jennie sighed. "Well, let's see. It was May second, almost three years ago, that it really started, but it had begun about two years before that even, on our parents' anniversary. I remember the gift Mama gave Papa in vivid detail – a beautiful rose-shaped pink stone that sparkled like a beautiful piece of rose-quartz. I'm not even sure where she got it, but it was beautiful. Either way, a few days later Papa left to go on some sort of archaeological dig somewhere around Kyoto and brought the stone with him – Mama insisted that it would keep him company on the dig. When he got back, he started acting – differently. I don't know how to describe it, but he started acting kind of mean to Mama. John and I tried to ignore it – anyway, Papa was yelling at Mama, not us. But somehow, I always thought that some of it was always aimed at us, even if indirectly.

"That continued on for about a year, and then the two of them started talking about divorce. Well, it wasn't really talking – Papa was really forcing it on her. He even used physical force once – or it might have happened more, I only saw it once though. And that whole time, John and I were also getting hurt a little bit by this. John even talked a few times about sleeping in our backyard rather than risk being the target of some harm, and he actually did it once or twice. I even joined him. It was pretty fun, thinking back on it.

"Then, about six months later, they took it to the court. Papa moved out, and we had to visit him one weekend a month. We started to dread it. John even once just plain refused to go, and Mama took the fall because Papa had her arrested or something, I think, because we didn't see her all that week…" She sniffed, and then continued, "But that wasn't all of it. The actual trial was being drawn out forever. Papa was just never pleased with the verdict, and kept the trial going. That continued for another six months, and then the final verdict came on May second, the day after our birthdays. Which is actually a fairly odd thing in itself – John was born just before midnight on April 30, and I was born just after on May 1, so we were born in different months.

"But the final verdict was the nastiest thing of all. I remember finding out so clearly that it still gives me nightmares. John and I were in the park that day, staying away from the trial because Mama didn't want us to see it. Now, I think it was really to give us just a few moments longer with each other – Mama's always had a sixth sense about bad things happening. Anyway, we were both sitting on the swings, laughing at something that now seems so insignificant when our parents came to get us. They weren't in good moods though – Mama had tears running down her face, and Papa was rageful, which at the time was quite regular for him. Either way, Papa grabbed John's arm and told him that it was time to go. John originally started to walk back with him, and I tried to follow, but Mama held me back. John then realized that we weren't following, and stopped, asking why Mama and I weren't following. That's when we learned what the final verdict was: Each parent got one of us. Papa got John, and Mama got me. And the worst part: Papa said that if he caught John and me together, he would hurt us so badly that not even the best hospital would be able to fix us. John tried to get away, but Papa was too strong and dragged him away. I tried to run and help him, but Mama held me back."

Jennie paused here to wipe her tearing eyes, and Bridgit sat there, trying to keep a straight face about this but tears still streaming down her face. She sniffed a bit and muttered, "Your dad, he sounds like a real lizard. And not the slightly cute type, either."

Jennie continued, "That first week, I locked myself in my room and refused to come out. Everywhere I looked, John had been ripped away. We had shared a bedroom before, but Papa had taken the extra time to strip our room of all of John's belongings, although I'm still not sure what he did with them. That day, there was the cruel odor of smoke in the air. But either way, Mama had to find a hairpin in order to pick my lock and enter my room. She didn't want this – nobody did except Papa. He's the one who bribed the judge to accept his case. He's the reason why our family was so well off before – Mama's not very wealthy at all. She can barely keep food on the table and the bills paid. And from what John has told me, Papa tortures him day and night, not allowing him to even eat unless he asks."

Bridgit gasped, then asked, "So, how is it you two are together now? I'm assuming that your father doesn't know about this meeting."

"No, he doesn't thankfully. That first winter, Mama and I worked together to create a package for John, consisting of a small diary I had been keeping for him, a few videotapes of important events that I had taken part in, and a small knife that I had crafted from some wood outside. The knife was because Mama and I felt that as long as he was with Papa, he might need protection. I couldn't deliver it in person, but we have other family who live around. So that Christmas eve, I delivered the package to our cousins. Do you know YamatoIshida? He goes by Matt around his friends..."

"Sort of – I helped with refreshments at one of his rock concerts - community service for school. He's your cousin?"

"Yeah. Anyway, I delivered the package, along with gifts, to them, and received back a gift from them and a package from John. He apparently had made a package for me as well. When I got home and opened it, it contained a couple of things – a few tapes of important things he had done, a cassette of a diary that he had written for me, and a leather pouch containing ten arrows that he had made from maple sticks that had dropped on his back lawn, along with feathers from a small bird that had been run over on the street, along with a promise that he was making the bow to go along with them. I've always loved archery.

"All year, we continued to be separated. The only thing that kept me going was the promise that John had written stating that he would try to communicate again. It was the hardest in mid-spring, but I think you can understand why. Meanwhile, I found a nice log one day and, using the small penknife that Mama had given me for my birthday – that was all I had asked for, other than having one more day with John – whittled it into a long, wooden sword that I spent the entire year perfecting. Then came last December. Matt had called a few hours before I was going to bring John's package to be delivered, saying that he had to go somewhere and couldn't deliver it that night. Mama and I were sitting by the fire later that night, waiting for the next day, when the doorbell rang.

"John was at the door, holding a package. He only wanted to deliver the package, to make sure that he could get back without Papa knowing where he'd been, but after calling our neighbor we made sure that if Papa did try to get John to tell him where he'd been, he'd have an alibi. We all three sat by the fire, and we opened each other's gifts. I had given him another diary, more tapes, and the wooden sword that I had spent so long on – I had even taped the handle in silver electrical tape so that any splinters wouldn't hurt his hand. John, meanwhile, gave me another cassette, more videos, and the very bow that he'd promised. And he had certainly done really well on it too – it was carved of beautiful maple wood, and its string was – well, I'm not sure what it is. Either way, it was, and still is, beautiful. That was the happiest day of my life I think, and over some hot chocolate, John and I came up with a way to make the happiness last even longer – we decided to come up with a date for us to sneak out together. Today just happened to be that date. You were probably wondering why we were being so cautious in the park. It's because we didn't want Papa to find us. Mama's fine with it – in fact, she's ecstatic that we are doing it. However, Papa is an ever-present threat."

In the corner, John stirred a bit and groaned quietly. Jennie jumped up at the sound, and then ran to where her twin lay. As he woke up, Jennie hovered over him, asking, "John! John, are you alright?"

"Yeah," he said, holding his head in his right arm, as his left arm was obviously still hurting. "What happened? I remember being blasted by that Ihtaymon creature, and then everything went black."

"You were knocked unconscious," Bridgit said from over by the cocoa, which had begun to boil. She was stirring it so that it wouldn't burn. "And if it wasn't for Jennie, that broken arm of yours would be the least of your troubles."

"Jennie?"

His twin nodded. "I saved you just as Ihtaymon used his mind wave attack. Who knows what would have happened if I hadn't."

John winced because of the pain that his arm was causing, and said, "I thought I told you to stay in the cave where you would be safe."

"And yet if I hadn't saved you just then, this cave wouldn't have served as much protection if what Bridgit said about that attack is correct. Besides, I had Lapamon to help me. She's Bunimon's digivolved form."

"Bunimon digivolved?"

The little rabbit didn't move from right beside John's arm. "That's right. And if you'd just hold still, I could also bandage that broken arm of yours."

"Oh, sorry." John held still for a minute while Bunimon continued to wrap her ribbons around his arm.

As she finished, the little rabbit said, "Even with my healing powers, it will take at least a half an hour to heal. I'd suggest that we just stay here until then."

"And I know something that will pass the time," Bridgit commented, motioning toward the kettle of cocoa that was beginning to steam furiously. "The hot cocoa's ready. Who wants some?"

"Oh, that reminds me," John remembered, using his good arm to grab his bag – which floated to him instead of him having to reach for it – and opened it. Six humongous pinkish berries floated out, and directed by John's waving hand, one plopped squarely on each of his friend's laps. One, however, remained floating – the one meant for John's partner, Canismon. "My partner and I were in the woods and saw these berries, so I decided to pick them for you. Where is Canismon, anyway?" John muttered, not quite remembering the fact that his partner had been blasted by Ihtaymon some time before. However, small data dots began to gather by his side, and his sleeping partner materialized. Canismon had just lifted his head and was only beginning to shake off his drowsiness when the berry meant for him hovered right over to him and plopped silently onto his paws.

Bridgit picked up her berry, looked it over, sniffed it a little bit, and then shrugged and ventured a nibble. She chewed for a second and then swallowed, and a smile broke over her face. "Wow, John, it's delicious. It tastes almost like… strawberry juice and cranberry juice mixed with a tiny bit of orange juice and just a tiny hint of seltzer."

Spikecornmon looked hers over and muttered, "Wow, I didn't realize that this species of berry grows around here – the crawnge berry usually only grows in colder climates. But it's apparently one of the most delicious berries that exist. I've personally never had the pleasure of tasting one, but I guess it's worth a try." She nibbled it a little bit and immediately took another bite, then another, then another…

Bridgit took three glasses and three bowls out of the picnic basket and used the spoon that had been used to stir the kettle to scoop a generous amount into each container. She then gave a glass each to the twins, and a bowl each to the digimon. "It's probably a little bit hot, but…"

"It's delicious!" Jennie commented, taking a sip. "Almost just as good as the cocoa that Mama served last Christmas eve…" She didn't have to finish her sentence, as the other people in the cave made their signs of approval."

Bridgit smiled. "If you want more, there's plenty in the kettle."

So, the six of them sat in the cave, drinking cocoa and refilling their glasses when they wanted to, until about five minutes until John's bandages were allowed to come off. As Bridgit packed up the remaining cocoa –which wasn't much – into a plastic container and placed the materials, glasses, and bowls back into her picnic basket, Jennie stretched and got up, excusing, "I'm going to go get a breath of fresh air – it's getting a little hot in here."

As Jennie left, there was pin-drop silence for a few seconds, and then, well, let's just say the scream that came was almost as loud as a train's whistle blowing straight in your ears. Almost. The others immediately jumped to their feet and ran to the entrance of the cavern, only to barely catch a glimpse of Jennie, wrapped in some sort of white webbing and being carried off by a giant earwig.

"Ihtaymon," the five of them said in unison, and John ran off after it, Canismon running after him. John had just enough time to get a flat boulder to become airborne and leap onto it – and Canismon had barely enough time to scramble upon it as well – before he entered the forest, chasing after his twin's captor. Bridgit ran forward and yelled, "John, wait!" Then, realizing that he wasn't about to turn back, she yelled to him, louder than before, "YOUR ARM STILL HAS A COUPLE MINUTES BEFORE IT WILL BE HEALED! DON'T DO ANYTHING STUPID BEFORE THEN!"

Spikecornmon walked up to her and asked, "Wouldn't it be better advice to tell him not to do anything stupid period?"

Bridgit smiled and shook her head, then stared toward the direction John had flown. "He's obviously going to do something stupid anyway – there's no stopping that. He and Jennie would die for one another. I'm just warning him that he'll be better off if he lets it heal before then, because then he'll have a better defensive system."

Bunimon interrupted, "Um, Jennie's alone, and Canismon hasn't digivolved yet. Don't you think we might want to try and go help them?"

Bridgit and her partner were still for a moment, and then nodded and muttered, "Good point." The three of them then ran off through the forest, trying to make it past the underbrush that Ihtaymon had stirred up in his flight with Jennie.

.--.

"There's a cave!" Tan pointed the spectacle of nature out as if it was some great landmark, mostly because he was stressed out, having to deal with Bobby's nagging. Rhenna was no different, although she was more tired than stressed. Their partners were on the verge of falling to sleep right where they stood. The only ones in their group, in fact, that were not stressed or tired were Bobby and Butterstarmon, the former of whom had been keeping his energy up with a myriad of Hershey bars from the picnic basket he carried, and the latter of whom had been sleeping all this time on top of Bobby's head.

"Oh, that's nice," Rhenna stated in an annoyed tone. "Let's the both of us go in there and lock the door before Bobby can follow us." Not wishing to point out the fact that caves don't have doors and waste energy, Tan stayed quiet.

The group was about to head over to it when they heard a quiet scream, which grew in intensity, until they saw a large earwig-like creature carrying a girl, who was the source of the screaming, into the cave. None of them noticed that the girl was Jennie; in fact, Tan hung his head and muttered, "Occupied. How excellent." (A/N - Baka Tan moment. You can tell I don't like the goggleboys as much...)

.--.

Jennie was thrown to the floor of the cave, although she was still not released from the webs that bound her. As Ihtaymon looked at the outside to make sure nobody had followed them, he hissed happily and turned towards his prey. Jennie struggled with her bondage, crying, "What do you want with me?" However, her captor did not know was that she was also using her powers to try and build up enough water pressure underneath the webbing to make it burst.

"Why," the earwig hissed, "do you want to know that?"

Jennie explained, trying to buy as much time as possible, "Well, normally when a villain has their prey in the movies, they go on elaborately about some plan to take over the world and junk, going into every single possible detail that they know. The hero never escapes while the lecture is going on, of course."

Ihtaymon was not too smart and didn't realize that his prey was trying to last as long as possible. He also did not notice the flat, flying rock that carried John and his partner, which landed silently on a stretch of stone at the top of the cavern that acted sort of like one of those wooden support beams in some of some buildings, especially those that have any religious significance. There was one minute left until John's bandages would come off and he'd be healed.

"Okay then, young one," Ihtaymon stated. "Here's my plan. The dark one wants control over this world, and the one that you come from. However, he also sees that you are a great threat to his goal of control. So, he sent me to get rid of you."

"And how do you suppose you'll get rid of me? My water powers are tough."

"That's the beauty of it, my dear. You're going to do it for me. I plan on entering your mind and forcing you to destroy yourself. And if I couldn't find you, I was going to use your dear brother to do the job – force him to reveal your whereabouts, and then destroy you by his own hand."

It was all John and Canismon could do to suppress a gasp. Thirty seconds remained.

"Who is this 'dark one' that you speak of?"

"That is not of your concern. Now, prepare to die at your own hand."

"NO!" The water pressure made her restraints burst, and she was free. She held her hand out and a large stream of water shot straight at the earwig. However, it wasn't phased.

Time was up, and the ribbon that was left from John's makeshift cast floated silently off and landed in his hands. John looked at it, and then suddenly had a thought.

Ihtaymon got ready, and then cried "Gross Blow!" sending a large energy orb soaring towards Jennie. She was knocked backwards, and as she crashed against the wall, a small crack came from the lower half of her left leg. She collapsed onto the ground out of pain.

John watched for the right moment to strike, slowly starting the ribbon's hovering.

"Argh!" Bridgit almost tripped again over the underbrush. Spikecornmon was slightly ahead of her, and Bunimon beckoned over the rest of the bushes. "Look – we're almost there!"

Bridgit kept cutting the grass with her laser beam, all the while grumbling, "Jennie gets a ride, even if it's on the back of that cretin. John and Canismon get to fly. And us? We get to walk through the bushes. I don't care about this outfit, but if my parents see me like this they'll kill me!"

Ihtaymon stood over Jennie, who was attempting to sit up, even with her leg causing her such pain. The earwig hissed once more, "Any last words?"

Jennie bravely stated, even with the tears streaming down her face from the pain, "Hurt me if you want, but don't you dare lay another finger on John."

"Fine by me," the earwig hissed. It then cried, "Mind Wave!" Jennie screamed, her eyes wide open and slowly fading into dark, blank pits even with her struggle.

"Hey ugly!" came a voice from the rock formation on the ceiling, which made Ihtaymon look up, although his attack kept coming. "Step away from my sister!"

A large, pink-colored ribbon shot down from where John stood, which split in half, one part wrapping around Ihtaymon, which stopped his attack and caused him a lot of pain, and the other wrapping around Jennie, which freed her from Ihtaymon's spell, which was almost complete. As she opened her eyes and saw her twin and his partner leaping down from the balcony, she couldn't help the tears gathering in her eyes. "John, you came!"

John smiled and nodded, then turned to his partner, saying, "You want to get rid of this menace, Canismon?"

Canismon nodded. "Whenever you're ready, John." Both John's topaz star and Canismon began to glow a bright golden-yellow color.

D I G I V O L U T I O N

"Canismon, digivolve to…" he said as he grew to approximately three times his size. His tail became all fuzzy, and around his neck became slightly spiked. His paws – and claws, for that matter – grew approximately twice their size after the original transformation, and his teeth became sharper and slightly longer… "Lupemon!"

E N D D I G I V O L U T I O N

Where Canismon had stood before, there was now a large, handsome wolf. The best way to describe it is… well, reader, you've seen season 1 of the television show, right? Of course you do, otherwise you wouldn't even know who Matt Ishida is. Anyway, this digimon looked just like Garurumon, except where Garurumon was blue, this one was golden, and where Garurumon was white, this one was silver in color.

.--.

Lupemon

Level: Champion

Abilities: Wind Paw, Lupine Aurora

.--.

"Are we too late?" came a voice at the entrance. There stood Bridgit, Spikecornmon, and Bunimon, all of whom looked ready to fight. Bunimon immediately ran to Jennie's side and asked, "Are you okay? Did Ihtaymon hurt you too badly?"

"I'm fine," Jennie reassured your partner, although she winced at her broken leg. Bunimon shook her head once, and then proceeded to bandage her partner's leg.

Ihtaymon, however, was now beginning to cower against the back wall. "Don't hurt me, please!" he hissed. "I was only following orders."

John walked forward slightly, saying "Your orders hurt my sister and me, and that is unforgivable. Lupemon, will you do the honors?"

"Gladly, John," the wolf said as it raised its front paw. Gathering energy, he slashed at the earwig, crying, "Wind Paw!" He then did the same thing with the other front paw, making an X shaped slash, although not saying the attack's name another time.

Ihtaymon was badly hurt by that attack, and as Lupemon gathered energy in his mouth, the wolf shouted, "Lupine Aurora!" as a large beam of energy hit squarely on the mark.

Just as the earwig was about to turn into data, it quietly muttered, "You haven't seen the last of me. I'll be back, and when I do, I'll destroy the both of you!" It became data, and John scanned it with his D-PA.

After that all happened, John walked over to where Jennie was. "You okay?" he asked, pulling her up and letting her rest on his shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm fine," his twin said, hugging her brother. "Except for this broken leg, I couldn't be better."

The two of them looked into each other's eyes for what seemed like forever, until Bridgit interrupted, saying "That leg of yours is probably going to take another half an hour to heal. How about we sit around in here until it heals? There's still more cocoa. Although, Bunimon mentioned something about adding some of her ribbon to get rid of any traces of Ihtaymon that might still be in either of you."

So, the six of them sat down in the cave, drinking cocoa. What they didn't notice, however, was that right behind them, a small leaf-shaped emerald materialized and flew out of the cave, seeking its owner…

Who does this fifth jewel belong to? What powers might it hold? (Try and guess...) Find out next chapter!

Author's Note: Yey, my third update in four days! That must be some kind of record... anyway, the twins' story is based mostly on somethingmy friends (a brother and sister pair, althoughnot twins)had to go through(although the twins' story is very much exaggurated). I hope they don't kill me when they read this... anyway, about the reviews.

its been a while - Hi, Emily! Long time no... see, talk, or communication in general! Can't wait to see you again! And I'm glad you like it so far, even if it isn't Teen Titans... I'd better work some on that one, shouldn't I...

tangledways - Glad you like it so far. Yeah, it was on animeadmirers, but I decided that it would be easier for me to write it here.

Anyway, just try and guess what the fifth crystal does, review nicely, and I'll see you... eventually! Hopefully sooner than later...